The road has not been kind to the Lee University men’s basketball team. On Thursday night the Flames fell to the University of Montevallo and then on Saturday evening, Lee staged a late comeback, but it was not enough to overcome host Auburn University at Montgomery. The Warhawks handed the Flames a 74-66 defeat.
Lee trailed 41-27 at the end of the first half. The Flames fought back to outscore the Warhawks 39-33 in the second stanza but it was not enough to get over the first-half deficit.
The loss dropped Lee to 4-2 overall and 0-2 in GSC play while AUM improved to 4-3, 1-1.
The Flames will return to Walker Arena for two games next week. They will host the University of West Alabama on Thursday in the second game of a doubleheader, scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Next Saturday rival University of Alabama in Huntsville comes to town for a 4 p.m. GSC contest.
Lee got a solid 24-point effort from guard Giancarlo Valdez. He was 7-of-13 from the field and converted 9-of-10 free throws. Zach Gray came off the bench to score 14 points. He made 4-of-5 shots overall and was 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. Marlon Smith was the other Flame in double-digit scoring. He finished with a double-double, 11 points and a team leading 10 rebounds.
The Warhawks were led by Chappelle Whitney who tallied 23 points and led his team with seven rebounds. Malachi Rhodes followed with 17 points and Talib Ferrette was the third AUM player in double-figure scoring with 11 points.
The Flames shot 47% from the field (21-of-45) but made just 3-of-12 3-point attempts (25%). They marched to the charity stripe 27 times and converted 21. AUM shot 45% from the field, making 24-of-53 shots. The home team also struggled from 3-point range, hitting 5-of-19 (26%). The Warhawks nailed 21-of-25 free throws.
AUM won the battle of the boards 29-26. The turnovers and assists numbers did not go in the Flames favor. They had 19 turnovers to six assists. On the other hand, the Warhawks had even numbers, 14 assists and 14 turnovers.
AUM had 28 points in points in the paint and 23 points off Lee turnovers. The Flames had better numbers in points in the paint (32) but had just 14 points off turnovers. The fouls against the two clubs were almost even. Lee was called for 19 and AUM 18.